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League Convention: Power the Vote in 2012

By: Kelly Ceballos06/12/2012

Today, we wrapped up our 50th biennial national convention in Washington, DC - a great gathering of League members from around the country! We got a lot done and heard from some wonderful speakers including DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton; Annenberg Public Policy Center's Kathleen Hall Jamieson; U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Trevor Potter, president, Campaign Legal Center; Former Representative Mickey Edwards (R-OK); political reporter Eleanor Clift; and pollster John Zogby.

President Elisabeth MacNamara challenged delegates: “The League is not an end in itself. We are a training ground for democracy. That is what we have always been and that is what we will always be, working together to learn new ways to spread the word and encourage new generations to learn and engage.”

All weekend, delegates rallied around the League’s 2012 Power the Vote initiative for their elections work this year, and set the LWVUS program agenda for the next two years, vowing to continue our fight for voting rights, campaign finance reform and clean air, and voting to study agriculture.

Convention speakers, including U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Trevor Potter, President of the Campaign Legal Center, Former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK) and Political Reporter Eleanor Clift, urged the League to look closely at the steps needed to fix the broken campaign finance system and to press forward using our community-based power on behalf of all voters and for elections that are determined by the voters.